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Still, Ryan Strome admitted in the time players spent waiting for Canada’s junior team cuts, he was close to calling the room of good friend Brett Ritchie and pretending to be head coach Steve Spott.

“I wasn’t nervous one bit for him, but I told him I was going to call his room, give him a fake phone call,” Strome said. “I never did it.

“He was begging me not to. I called him on Skype instead. He was on edge.”

Ultimately, Ritchie received good news he was one of the chosen 23, great news for him and his Niagara Ice Dogs teammates, Strome and defenceman Dougie Hamilton.

“I had a pretty good idea he was going to make it,” said Strome, one of the six players from last year’s squad back for a second tour. “He was nervous before we went to our rooms, asking me, ‘Do you think I have anything to worry about?’ I told him he was good and had a good camp.

“It’s not just him. It’s tough for everyone. I remember last year, I played in that last game and had to wait over night. It was the worst feeling. I couldn’t sleep.

“I know what guys are going through, and know it’s rough.”

Mark Scheifele was in the same boat as Strome as the final cuts came, a returning player awaiting word whether a friend — in his case Anthony Camara — would be joining him at the tournament in Ufa, Russia.

“You never know if you’re fine, but Cami being one of my best friends and my roommate, I was very nervous for him,” Scheifele said. “I knew how bad he wanted it. I was super happy when I found out he made it.

“He didn’t know, but I was following on Twitter and saw all the cuts, so I called and told him,” he added. “He was ecstatic.”

Going into the camp, Strome and Ritchie had high hopes they’d both make the team, maybe even be linemates.

That is a very strong possibility.

“You think it could happen, but it’s now reality and that’s special,” Strome said. “If we are linemates, that’s great.

“But everybody here is so skilled. I’m sure we’ll all have good chemistry with whoever we’re with.”

BAND OF BROTHERS

They’re not just Canada’s world junior team.

They’re banded brothers.

For the next while, the 23 players chosen to skate for a gold medal at the coming tournament in Ufa, Russia, are all going to be wearing Nike FuelBand wrist bracelets, which tracks how active a person is over the course of the day.

“It’s a cool little thing,” forward Mark Scheifele said.

Among the pictures the Team Canada players posed for Friday one had them with their hands over their hearts.

It was to show the bands, which monitors how many steps they take and can compare points earned over the day.

In actuality, the FuelBand is more for those who could use a subtle reminder to exercise more often as opposed teenagers who are elite athletes.

But the team had a fun way to test them Friday.

The players were split into two teams and sent into a Toys ’R Us to collect gifts to be donated to the Salvation Army’s Toy Mountain campaign, and tested to see who burned the most calories working for charity.